Hidden Origin
by Kyava
Summary: On the day that I died I wouldn't say I was happy, but I certainly wasn't afraid. I have always planned for death to be my ending, my escape, and if I was lucky, my peace. I died ready... or at least I thought I was ready. Too bad nothing in life ever goes as planned... and nothing in death is all that peaceful.
1. Prologue

Prologue

In the past, whenever I confronted the notion of death- a rare meditation for me- I have always pictured it to be at the hands of revenge or betrayal or maybe through the actions of my past teammates (somehow I can't find it in myself to call such a death a result from an act of revenge). Perhaps I may have even died randomly in battle at the hands of a nameless foe (my ego never let me dwell on that thought for long), or possibly in a hidden village's prison (another ego bruiser). Maybe I would die of old age (yeah right) or of pure fatigue after fulfilling my goals.

Maybe after all was said and done, I would have died by my own hand.

No matter which outcome is more likely however, I suppose I should clarify this: to say I contemplated how I would die invokes a notion that I feared death, or that my end's shadow loomed over me from time to time. The truth of the matter however, was that these contemplations were merely just that- contemplations, daydreams, thoughts, bored musings of someone who had nothing better to do at the moment.

The truth of the matter was that I found no fear in death… and neither did I have any love for life.

At one point in time I guess I could say I did. Even now I can still remember the thoughts and feelings as I actually _lived_. I didn't cling to life, nor did I blatantly disregard its presences but I basked in it- I breathed through each day unaware of the ignorance that protected me.

And it was for that reason that when the time came, I was left a weak sniveling coward, the very depiction of pathetic. And later when he died, died to _protect _me, I vowed, never again, and I had to finally break down the remainder of that ignorance to truly dedicate myself to what being a shinobi really meant: power.

And I did get my power. The sensation was foreign at first- to have _others _crawl and beg and whine and plead, rather than me. To see my loneliness in them, to show them what the cheery notion of life _truly_ held: a dark monstrous underbelly were only the strong truly survive. It was a nauseating feeling at the beginning.

But it was for their own good.

And it wasn't long before the power became a drug. I craved it, I ravished in it. All I wanted was more and more. To prove that I was strong, and watch all of _them _fall under me. To complete my ambitions was all that mattered. Life was a lie. Death an illusion. I fought, I bled and, most of all, I hated. I was an avenger, dealing justly to those who have over stayed their welcome in the ignorance of _life. _It was a pathetic notion and it needed to be removed.

I thought of death at this time. Thought about it in my moments of clarity, when my thoughts turned over the concept; but I didn't fear it, oh no, I _craved _it. And that made me fight harder; it made me shoot for desires higher than before; it made me want to kill all the more. Because once my anger was settled and justice was pacified, then, and only then, could I find true peace.

Yet when death finally reached me, it didn't give me that peace. Oh no….

It gave me a beginning.


	2. Chapter One

**Author's Note: Extended Summary in my Profile. And quick clarification with the time period: Takes place sometime after Sasuke fights B and Naruto goes to learn how to control the Kyuubi on that island (I kind of used creative license to mix up and change a few events, so don't expect everything to tie in exactly with the manga). Have fun reading! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! **

The day that I was captured was the worse day of Tsunade's life- or at least I like to think that.

It was almost comical the look on her face when she came running down the cracked cement stairs- nearly falling I might add- with her hair falling out of her two ponytails and her face red. The way she was robotically moving made one think that _she_ was the one who was stiff and sore from hours of tight bounds and chakra draining chains rather than me; but then, after a moment of silence and of staring, she barked out a curse and went racing back _up _the staircase just as I heard yelling from above. Naruto. I nearly couldn't help rolling my eyes at my blond shadow as I heard sounds of crashes and screams and yelling. Something heavy banged on the floor, shaking the building, and I momentarily wondered if he was going to bring the roof down on top of us.

He didn't and after a little bit of pleading, begging, and a lot of threating and what sounded like punching, the shouting finally ended. Around me I noticed my guards all give a sigh of relief and stag their shoulders.

It was impressive; he made it to the eighth floor of nine in Suna's high security prison- that took skill.

That or Suna had horrible security- and looking around at the pitiful shinobi "guarding" me, I was leaning towards that second option.

Add the fact that I was on the _first _floor rather than the eighth and that Naruto flew right by me on his way up added to the fact that my old teammate was a moron, and this place was pathetic.

I strangely was both amused and insulted.

Pathetic or not though, there was a reason why I wasn't being held in a more secure location- I was complete defenseless. The moment of my capture, some strange kunoichi preformed some kind of jutsu on my eyes- leaving them stinging and my sharingan useless. Then I was hauled bloody and unconscious to Gaara and placed in these frustrating chains. I'm weak and fatigued, bloody and battered, drained of chakra and left without my bloodline ability. Not to mention drugged. It was currently taking all of my energy to keep my eyes open.

I was no threat at all.

And I never hated myself more.

The shouting began anew up stairs and I couldn't help but smirk a little.

At least Tsunade was having a bad day as well.

* * *

I woke to the feeling of being hauled to my feet by my broken arm, and then punched in the stomach when I tried to pull away.

Fighting nausea, my legs wobbled once I stood and gave out quickly from under me in a matter of seconds, but I was caught by a hard faced shinobi before I could finish my descent and slam my face into the ground.

He caught me by my hair.

Once I was yanked to a standing position, I was left tittering there as one of the other guards- and masked kunoichi- released my binds that connected me to the wall. If anytime I was to escape I knew it was now. Yet the moment the thought passed through my mind I knew it was inedible. I was still in chakra draining chains, my arms were bound behind my back, my mind foggy with drugs, and with the addition of a newly added blindfold and a kunai at my throat- I knew my fate was impossible to escape.

I truly was weak.

Another one of the guards- I didn't bother counting how many they were- shoved me from behind and I stumbled forward on weak legs; the kunai at my throat changing positions and moving to the small of my back, and there it stayed as we traveled outside onto the rough sand that scorched my bare feet and onto a gravel pathway. Silence was my only company on the long walk to wherever it was we were going. Silence and pain as my head spun, and my empty stomach churned. When was the last time I ate? I couldn't remember. I couldn't really recall anything at the moment – or focus on anything for that matter.

I walked mechanical without thought. If I stopped the kunai in my back would dig into my skin, sending shivers down my spine and red hot blood dripping down my leg. Or if my legs gave out one of the guards or multiple will drag me back up with rough hands or drag me along until I got off the ground and moved forward again. That too was mechanical. It was done without thought or hesitation and continued again and again. Down, drag, stand, and walk. Down, drag, stand- kick, ouch- and walk- all under a blazing sun that had no mercy.

_No, no mercy. Never mercy, only justice._

Can't say I didn't blame them for anything.

* * *

It wasn't until a little later that I learned of our destination. Turns out they were taking me to Konaha- apparently Naruto managed to at least convince the Hokage and the Kazekage to take me "home" before they met with the other nations to decide my fate. Not that it should matter, I knew Naruto was just stalling for time, and in the end I knew the sentence will be death, whether today or tomorrow, it didn't matter. They also didn't let me see my old teammates (because if Naruto was there, somehow I just knew Sakura and Kakashi were there as well) -but with the blindfold, for all I knew they could be walking beside me, but I doubted it. Hoped for it, but doubted it

Then my mind reminded it of its foolishness and the weak hope went away.

I wouldn't want their pity anyway.

It was the second night out that it happened. I still had my blindfold on, my feet were raw from all of the walking without shoes, and I was sitting involuntarily by a tree stump (which I had the pleasure of being chained too) when I heard screams coming from my right.

At first I didn't react. I was too tired, and besides, I was used to hearing screams in my mind- memories of "that" night I suppose. But then I felt something slice my cheek and instinct kicked in. I quickly jumped up, only to be yanked back down by the chains on the tree.

So much for instincts.

A new flickering light came through my blindfold and I was all at once hit by a wall of smoke that left me gasping. _'A fire,' _I thought my heart racing. Why was there a-

A hand yanked off my blindfold and a pair of gray eyes met my own.

My mouth went dry.

The man was tall and large- or so he seemed at least as he towered over me, consuming my vision- and his skull looked almost gray in the fires light. Scars adorned his neck and jaw; giving his skin there the appearance of decaying flesh, and his long dark hair fell in greasy and muddy clumps around his head. But what were most terrible were his eyes- those colorless, sunken eyes that seemed to hold everything and nothing all at once. His eyes spoke of pain and torture that scared even me- me who was yearning to travel to death's gates. I thought I knew darkness- I embraced it with welcome arms- and I thought I gained all of power it could give, but suddenly as I looked up into that cold face, I saw myself a mere shadow- a dim candle- next to a dark abbess. _This _was a monster.

The man leaned closer towards me and suddenly I was all too aware of the jagged knife in his hand, ready to end my life, when I felt something within me burst. _"Jāgerio!" _I heard my voice snap, "_'Ňiikhiy zã cree n!" _Whatever I said must have had some affect, because the creature jumped and then stumbled back in surprise.

And apparently I wasn't done yet, because suddenly I felt my chakra gather into a clump inside of me, pouring steady into the chains around my torso and neck, draining me- or at least it should have been draining me. Instead I found my chakra uncovering more layers of chakra as it flowed away from my being- reveling something at my core. A flicker of chakra that wasn't my own but what was strangely familiar…

A loud "SNAP!" drew my attention away from my draining chakra as the chains broke from around me, and whatever it was at my core was submerged again as the remainder of my own life energy rushed back into my body.

I wasn't chained but unfortunately I was still weak and apparently no longer in control of my body, so it gave me no pleasure to feel the cold steel of the restraints snap off my sore chest and the bindings fall off my bleeding wrists- I was too concerned with watching in horror as the creature-man-monster-thing recovered from his shock and charge for me with a new look of determination and- hatred? - In his eyes.

I closed my eyes ready for the oncoming attack.

Until Naruto came charging at my attacker, screaming like a maniac.

Of course.

Tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto became surrounded in golden chakra, before he flung himself into the creature before us, a golden fist wound for the punch aimed at the center of his face.

He hit spot on and the monster didn't even flinch.

Undaunted Naruto flung out his leg into the creature's path, causing the thing to stumble and, with a look of irritation, fling its elbow into the Jinchūriki's stomach, throwing Naruto a good five yards into a tree- no, _through _the tree- and beyond.

My throat closed up at the sight without my permission, and I barely retained the yell that wanted to burst from my throat.

_'I don't care, I don't care,' _I reminded myself.

The monster paused for a second in its charge to look at the damage it did to the blond ninja before turning back around to me, a look of… confusion?... in its eyes; like it didn't understand something.

_'Join the club,' _the small part of my mind that wasn't frozen thought. I had no idea what was going on.

That was when it hit me. A memory from my past- one of the ones I worked so hard to lock up- came rushing back to me and past my defenses.

Orochimaru. This same thing happened with Orochimaru. While I was sitting there cowering like a pathetic child, _Naruto _went charging in, ready to fight with all he had. I vowed I would never be placed in one of those situations again, were my _friends _would have to protect me.

But was I cowering right now? I could barely move!

The monster before me seemed to come out of whatever train of thought it was on and began moving towards me again- this time slower, almost fluid like in his movements- taunting me with his approach, keeping me locked in place by those cruel _dark_ eyes.

Calling upon my power, I gritted my teeth, forcing my legs to bend, to twitch, to do _something._

I couldn't move.

And the monster was only getting closer.

Memories consumed me. My father, always comparing me to Itachi, how I was always so weak in comparison to him; Naruto in our genin years, how he kept improving, how the _dead-last _was catching up to me…

My brother, how he killed our clan and took away everything I knew. How he killed, and died, and lied to protect me. Konaha and how they forced my brother to do the unspeakable, how they played god and deemed it fit to sentence my family's death. I vowed justice would be appeased. I vowed that it would be _me _to avenge the wrong. _I _would be the god.

Anger consumed me and with new determination I called upon everything I possessed to move.

My leg twitched.

The monster continued to approach.

Corpses of my guards laid dismembered upon the ground- they looked like plants or clumps of rocks in the shadows, but the flickering light of the flames said otherwise. Possessions were spread about and weapons lay forgotten upon the ground.

I knew I should be hearing screaming, yelling, crying, the sounds of battle, but none of it seemed to reach my ears. All I could focus on was the steady footsteps of my attacker as he leisurely made his way towards me.

Well, leisurely wasn't quite the right phrase. The anger in _those _eyes was too cruel, too harsh, to be anything resembling _leisure. _With a flinch I released I was going to die by the same kind of anger I based my entire life off of. I didn't understand it, but I recognized the emotion all the same.

Oh the irony.

Then Naruto appeared again from amidst the tress, _rasengan_ in hand as he rushed the creature a second time. Only this time the monster was prepared for him, and, with a quick duck to avoid Naruto's outstretched palm, the thing grabbed Naruto by his shoulder and threw him harshly to the ground, causing the earth to shake from the impact.

With the flickering light, I caught a glimpse of the other boy's face as the creature stood up straight and delivered a kick to his side, and again, and again.

He was hurt. Blood was spouting from his nose and his lip was split, and already I could see his right eye swelling and a bruise forming on the left side of his face where his body made contact to the ground.

But still he had that obnoxious look of determination in his face and, when he caught my eyes between kicks, he _smiled. _

'_Why is he doing this?' _I yelled in my mind.

Another kick, and, when Naruto attempted to roll over to the right, away from the attacks, the monster brought its heel up of his other foot and slammed it in front of Naruto's head as he moved, stopping him and slamming Naruto in the forehead at the same time. With a growl Naruto threw his foot up, hitting the monster in the knee join and throwing him off balance, before rolling backwards to escape his enemies reach. The creature was quick though, and he recomposed himself, before ducking his head and tackling the smaller Naruto to the ground as he got to his feet.

Naruto's headband went flying off his head and landed in front of my immobile form. There was a crack running down the center of it.

_'Why?' _I thought, watching the blond attempt to make a hand seal, only to have one of his finger nearly ripped off by the unrelenting foe. Why does he care? All I have ever done was betray him and mock him. He meant nothing to me, so why should I mean anything to him?

A blast of fire scorched the creatures back and, not nearly as affected as it should be, the monster released Naruto from its strangle, turned and _growled _at the man standing a few yards away.

_'Kakashi,' _again my heart skipped a beat as I watched my old mentor join in the impossible fight. After only a second and he already had a limp in his right leg from an unsuccessful landing from the monster nearly throwing him into the fire.

'_They were fighting a losing fight, so why are they even trying?' _

While the creature was focused on Kakashi, Naruto made his famous hand signs, and with a sudden puff of smock, created multiple clones and charged the thing from behind.

He didn't land one punch.

_'They weren't strong enough to win.'_

The ground shock and then exploded under the creature's feet, and a rush of smoke shielded the battle from my eyes.

Sakura joined the fight.

_I'm always going to be there for you, even if it's only as an obstacle for you to overcome. Even if you do hate me. _

'_Itachi…'_

Finally the smock cleared and I saw Kakashi thrown to the side into a pile of rocks, Naruto tangled up and bleeding in some kind of dark sludge, and Sakura…

Sakura was being held by the neck four feet above the ground by the monster itself.

It was going to kill her.

I moved.


	3. Chapter Two

A foul odor hit me as soon as I jumped into the crater that my old teammates were in, and for a moment I worried it was toxin and I just leaped into my death. But with a quick assessment I concluded it was from whatever goop was imprisoning Naruto- doesn't mean it's not toxic, but if it hasn't killed Naruto (who was in contact with the stuff) then it wasn't an immediate threat.

No the threat was the seven foot something of a creature that was currently strangling the life out of Sakura.

I didn't stop- because if I did the injuries and weariness would catch up with me and I would become immobile again - and I sprinted forward, eyes focused on the back of the monstrous foe, my only thought centered upon the girl currently dying in his grasp.

So in other words, I also didn't think.

I heard a shot from Naruto right before I made contract with the beast, my good arm swing forward and my hand forming a chidori blade seconds before I swiped it up and across the creature's outstretched arm.

The next few seconds were the most confusing of my life.

I remember hearing the creature scream as my attack hit, the electricity moving into his forearm and down to his core, and I remember Sakura falling somewhere to my right; but then the next thing I remember, my face was being smothered by a monstrous hand, my vision blurred and dark, my mouth tasting blood, and my back up against the carter wall of jagged rocks.

Numbly I released I was probably going to die now.

Somewhere I heard yelling and the sound of metal as kunai and other weapons were drawn and thrown. I thought I heard my name and a flash of sliver but then everything began to grow darker and darker. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe. Desperate I tried to raise my hands and fight of the creature, or to form some kind of hand seal, but they were firmly held above my head- my broken arm screaming in protest- with another monstrous hand, and my legs were stuck against the rocks.

I was really going to die.

With spots dancing before my vision, and my peripherals darkening, I managed to catch one more flash of sight over the creatures shoulder: Naruto, yelling and crying as he attempted to fight his way from the sludge; Sakura, calling out for help and trying to race over towards me with what appeared to be a broken leg; and Kakashi, rising, then falling from the rocks that he was previously thrown to.

This monster will come for them once he was finished with me.

_'No,' _my mind screamed at me with an intensity that surprised me. _'No, I can't let that happen.'_

Weariness forgotten, I activated my Sharingan despite the strange jutsu placed upon it, and with a burst of adrenalin I forced my chakra into the rocks behind me, breaking them to pieces, which pierced my shoulders and back.

Not that I really noticed. Once I finally gained enough room to move my body backwards, and finally separate myself from the creature's grasp, I then slam my head forward again, head-butting the opponent.

I don't think anyone was as surprised as I was when it stumbled backwards from the hit, and, ignoring my now ringing ears and pounding skull (maybe I shouldn't have thrown away my forehead protector); I continued my forward motion, shoving my shoulder into the monsters stomach, and then throwing a quick kick to its knees, causing the creature to stumble.

My eyes noticed the small wound on his arm, and small quantity of burns from Kakashi. _'This isn't right,' _I thought apprehensive, _'My chidori should have cut straight through him.'_

Shaking its head, the monster reared back and yelled, that anger flashing in its eyes again as it lunged for me, and I only managed to get out of the way in time due to luck. I doubted I will be avoiding the next attack.

This wasn't a battle I could win.

Images began flashing before my eyes in rapid succession, and I faltered briefly in my steps, earning myself a knife in the shoulder.

Oh yeah, the knife. I forgot about that.

Pain scourged through my body from the wound, and I would have screamed out, but more pictures tumbled from my head. What-

The image of a jutsu suddenly passed through my mind and hope raised in me.

Until a yell brought me back, and when I came to I found myself once again braced against the crater wall, one arm daggling uselessly to my side, and the blade still stuck between some muscles in my shoulder.

Before me, the monster was standing blood coating his fingertips- my blood.

Behind the creature Sakura throw a kunai in our direction, aiming for the thing's head, but the monster must have sensed the danger, because in one fluid motion he jumped to the side, the kunai harmlessly whizzing past and striking the wall inches from my head.

'_Thanks for the rescue Sakura,' _I thought dryly eyeing the weapon.

In return to the kunai, the monster grabbed a large stone and chucked it back at Sakura. Hate to say it, but I think I actually felt pride when Sakura punched the large bolder, easily smashing it into pieces, and surprising the unstoppable juggernaut by returning his rock throw with one of her own: a large bolder about the same size as her petit body.

And the thing's back was to me.

This was my chance. Quickly I kneeled down upon the muddy ground and beginning the long successions of hand seals, my muscles falling into the new motions as if I have done it a hundred times before- and I might as well have, because as I began, the images began to appear again in my mind, and with my sharingan I easily copied the technique it flashed before my mind's eye.

Across the way, I caught a look of surprise on Kakashi's face and for a moment I wavered, questioning what I was doing.

At least I thought I wavered. Suddenly a pair of hands clapped inches from my nose and a cold shock entered my mind as I realized they were _my _hands.

I was losing control of my body again.

And whatever was playing my hand (literally) really wanted me to finish this jutsu.

At the conclusion of my hand signs, I felt a rush of chakra I didn't know I had, leave my body in waves as a new presence appeared behind me and I fell forward on my hands in sudden pain. The world began to darken, like something was casting a shadow over everything within my view, and for a moment, all I could do was stay where I was, on my hands and knees, shaking uncontrollably as whatever it was I summoned began to suffocate me in its dark chakra. Fire raced down my limbs, and ice clenched my hammering heart, squeezing the blood from it, and dumping venom to my veins and causing my limbs to tremble to the point of exhaustion. Externally I felt my breathing quicken and the sound of rushing blood was the only thing I could hear as it echoed through my head. Then there was the fear-that numbing, irrational, all-consuming _fear. _I could never put that feeling to words no matter how hard I tired, but suddenly, I really didn't want to turn around. I found myself wishing for death to come, for pain, for _something, _anything but this _fear. _

Somehow, through it all though, I managed to hear the sound of footsteps approaching me and I forced my heavy head to look up.

My vision was darkening, and I was shivering so hard I could barely see straight, but finally my mind comprehended the approaching shadow making its way to my fallen form.

'_I guess I'm getting that wish for death.'_

Frankenstein- a delusional part of my brain had the sudden thought that I should name the thing- approached me in that same casual manner as before, as though he couldn't see the representation of purgatory behind me, and for a sudden, panicked moment my eyes raced around the crater for Sakura.

She was down and unmoving, about ten feet away from me, her arms covering her head, and her leg bent at an angle I defiantly knew was not natural. I kept my eyes on her for a moment, making her sure her chest was moving as she breathed.

But then I remembered that her chest may only be moving in my vision because I was shaking so bad.

Frankenstein stopped half a foot from me, and, still on my hands and knees (I suddenly felt very sick at the thought that I probably looked like I was _bowing _to him) I craned my resisting neck up to look at those cold eyes hovering over my head.

'_This is it,' _A voice that wasn't my own thought and next thing I knew, I was being pulled upward by my torn up shirt, those eyes coming closer and closer…

After experiencing the fear from the presences behind me, I discovered those eyes weren't nearly as bad as I thought.

I smiled, my torn lip breaking open and a releasing river of blood down my jaw, as Frankenstein pulled me up to his eye level, and pain ripped through me as a glowing skeleton hand ripped through my chest.

Frankenstein froze.

"Sealing technique," I rasped, blood thickening my voice, "Dead Demon Consuming Seal."

_'Death… I'm ready…'_


End file.
